


The Sinners and the Saints

by justromandaydreams



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Accidents, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Major Character Injury, Mentioned Jules Bianchi, even Max, everyone loves charles
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-18 03:31:01
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15476712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justromandaydreams/pseuds/justromandaydreams
Summary: The ghost of Jules Bianchi loomed over the paddock once more as the rain poured down over the red flagged race. Nineteen drivers stood together staring at a live feed on the tv watching as the one driver missing from their group was slowly pulled from his ruined race car.





	The Sinners and the Saints

_The ghost of Jules Bianchi loomed over the paddock once more as the rain poured down over the red flagged race. Nineteen drivers stood together staring at a live feed on the tv watching as the one driver missing from their group was slowly pulled from his ruined race car, his pristine white and red racing suit now a filthy with dirt and what the drivers prayed wasn’t blood. Marshals lifted his helmet off to and the drivers’ fluffy brunette hair spilled free, part of it matted down. The paddock was silent as the emergency helicopter landed. Nobody dared speak as the limp body of the 20-year-old driver was airlifted away. The rain still poured down and still no one spoke._

Max Verstappen had no intentions of giving up 5th place to a Sauber. After crashing out in Qualifying he’d had had to start at the back of the grid and work his way up. It was lap 28 out of 44 at the Belgium Grand Prix and the rain was starting to come down hard. This boded well for him. With the Mercedes struggling in the rain a podium finish was in sight. Except for the fact that he was wasting precious time and battery trying to keep Leclerc at bay. The rookie had qualified extremely well, receiving P8 on the grid. The Monegasque had passed Ocon’s India and Sainz’s Renault. It seemed to Max that Leclerc, like him, raced well in the rain.

The Dutchman cursed as the Sauber driver made yet another attempt to overtake him. Redbull power was helping him now but he could feel his tires deteriorating.

“What the fuck. The Sauber’s on my tail you guys”

Horner responded quickly. “Copy. Just hold on. We’ll pit soon”

Max was fuming. Leclerc had gotten his Sauber’s nose almost parallel with his.

“I can’t shake him!” he yelled over the radio.

“Copy Max. Take it easy. You can always repass him”

The red bull driver slammed his radio button. “No, I can hold him off”

The two cars approached Turn 10, Leclerc turned in trying to gain the inside line, he was now wheel to wheel with the Red Bull. Max seethed. He was fighting a Sauber. A fucking Sauber. Leclerc’s nose was now past his own and then the rookie slipped past him, relegating Max to 6th. As they entered the entrance of Turn 10 he edged the front of his car back towards the inside line, but Leclerc defended. Enraged, Max tried to pass the other way trying to squeeze between a lapped Williams and the Sauber. But it was too tight. With a sickening crunch Max’s Redbull slammed into the side of the rookie’s Sauber.

Leclerc went spinning, his tires losing traction in the wet conditions. Max could feel his car failing and pulled over out of the way. He looked over his shoulder to see the damage Leclerc had sustained. Max thought he might be sick.

Red flags were being waved and the marshals were rushing over towards him and Leclerc. Max brushed them away quickly he was fine. But the 20-year-old from Monaco was yet to emerge from his decimated Sauber. He didn’t get a chance to check again as he was forced to walk away by one of the marshals with a grim look on his face. Max obeyed without argument, now was not the time for his hot hotheadedness.

By the time he made it back to the paddock a second red flag had been waved. The race was over. Vettel was proclaimed the winner with Hamilton in second and Max’s teammate Daniel taking third. But there was no celebration or podium. Instead all the drivers were gathered around a screen. Max walked over to join Daniel. He had a feeling he knew what the drivers were watching but a quick glance confirmed it.

_After Max had hit him, Charles had gone spinning across the track in the path of oncoming cars. Carlos Sainz, unable to break hard enough on the slippery track, careened into the side of the Sauber driver. The Monegasques car was sent airborne. Charles, having lost all control as soon as he was hit by Verstappen, was powerless to do anything as his car flipped, rolled, and then finally hit the barrier._

Onscreen emergency personnel were dragging Charles out of the car. It was clear he was unconscious. The 20-year-old looked as limp as a rag doll as they loaded him onto the gurney. The helicopter took off and the feed switched off. The paddock was silent for a moment before Vettel broke it.

“Oh my god” the German Ferrari driver whispered, his voice catching. “It’s like he’s cursed”

Lewis shook his head sadly, memories rushing through his head from four years ago at Japan.

“Don’t talk like that” the Brit snapped. “He’s going to be okay.” Lewis looked around at the rest of the drivers watching him with sad eyes. “He has to be.”

The memory of Jules was still too fresh in people’s minds. It didn’t help that Charles was quite like him in both appearance and personality. Vettel had a point. Leclerc was Jules’s god son. The coincidences were unsettling to say the least.

“What caused it?” questioned Marcus Ericson, Charles’s distraught teammate, his voice rising. “He’s a smart driver, this wasn’t just a mistake!”

Other drivers murmured in agreement. Max felt rooted to the spot as the Toro Rosso duo of Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley searched for the remote to wind back the feed.

A hand grasping his elbow shook him from his frozen state. The Dutchman glanced over to see Daniel looking at him.

“Come on” murmured the Australian. “You’re not gonna want to be here when they figure it out.”

Max let himself be pulled away by his teammate as the paddock fell silent once more, too in shock to put up a fight. No matter how many times he blinked the image of Charles’s white clad body lying limp and still on the grass wouldn’t leave him. Max knew that if Charles didn’t recover, didn’t wake up, that that image would haunt him for the rest of his days.

**Author's Note:**

> So...  
> This is my first fic I've ever posted. Let me know if you guys want another chapter or anything. 
> 
> \- Diana


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